4-4, 5, 6-69 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA

These shows have been floating around in trader's circles for years having been fm broadcasts and, while some flaws remain, the performances shine through. These shows are also special because they give us a glimpse of the band on three nights at the Avalon Ballroom. Unfortunately, there aren't that many shows that still exist from the Avalon Ballroom as complete as these. We also see the band trying a few new tricks such as Jerry breaking out the slide guitar on songs like That's It For The Other One and Dark Star.

The first show, on the 4th, starts with a Good Morning Little Schoolgirl which is followed by a classic Doin' That Rag. The first set ends with a hot That's It For The Other One->Death Don't Have No Mercy. The second set features a variation on what would become the Live/Dead jam of Dark Star->Saint Stephen->The Eleven->Feedback and then Turn On Your Lovelight.

The second show, on the 5th, starts off with nice acoustic versions of Dupree's Diamond Blues->Mountains Of The Moon before seguing into hot versions of Dark Star->Saint Stephen->Turn On Your Lovelight. Tonight's second set has a forgettable Hard To Handle only to pick up with Cosmic Charlie. China Cat Sunflower->Doin' That Rag is very nice while the That's It For The Other One->The Eleven->It's A Sin is even better. The show ends with Alligator->Feedback->We Bid You Goodnight.

The third and final show is usually considered the weakest of the run but I don't really agree with that. The first set starts with another Good Morning Little Schoolgirl. Beat It On Down The Line is nice. The It's All Over Now, Baby Blue sounds quite different form both the '66 versions and the later day versions. I'm A King Bee is quite good. The second set starts with That's It For The Other One->Death Don't Have No Mercy and is my personal favourite of the run. Turn On Your Lovelight is good and the Viola Lee Blues ends the show in stride.